


Darlin'

by Silent_So_Long



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-11
Updated: 2011-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-24 12:57:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/263717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silent_So_Long/pseuds/Silent_So_Long
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Bones calls Jim Darlin’ and one time Jim hears him do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darlin'

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt left on the buckleup_meme: [Five times Bones calls Jim Darlin’ and one time Jim hears him do it.](http://buckleup-meme.livejournal.com/5309.html?thread=1191869#t1191869)  
> Also serves as my second fill for the [Halloween Challenge 2011](http://buckleup-meme.livejournal.com/8433.html?view=1330161#t1330161)

~ 1 ~

The Sickbay was hushed and quiet around Leonard, as he sat beside the sleeping Jim. The young captain hadn’t been as impervious to the particularly virulent strain of flu that was spreading throughout the entire ship as Leonard would have liked, ending up with other members of the crew in the Enterprise’s sickbay. The doctor, of course, had raged at that one, deeming Jim stupid for even exposing himself the way that he had to a particularly virulent virus. Jim had merely shrugged and said that on a ship the size of the Enterprise, everyone was bound to suffer to one degree or another at some stage.

Even though Leonard knew that Jim was right, he still would not let the other man have the last word, continuously berating him every time that Jim was awake. Jim, himself, wasn’t fooled for an instant; he knew that Leonard’s rants were fuelled by love, concern apparent behind the doctor's wide hazel eyes.

“You love me, really,” Jim had said, the last time he’d been awake, patting Leonard's shoulder easily after the doctor had ranted at him for at least five minutes straight.

“That’s the point. I don’t want you getting sick, ya hear? You’re too important to the ship,” Leonard had retorted.

“I think you’re just cranky because you’re not gonna get any action for a week,” Jim had said, tipping Leonard what he’d hoped was a saucy wink amongst the sickliness of his face.

“Never you mind about sex. Just get well, ya idiot,” Leonard had growled, but even then, he’d been unable to hide the smile that crossed his full mouth momentarily at the irrepressible captain.

Jim stirred, then, bringing Leonard out of his reverie as he watched the other man shift slightly in his fever. Even though there was no reason for Leonard to be there, he’d still insisted upon keeping the vigil by Jim’s side anyway, choosing to sleep nearby and watch over his lover’s progress throughout the nights of his sickness.

He pressed cool fingertips to Jim’s forehead, checking him over with his tricorder as he did so. Jim’s temperature remained steady despite the sheen of sweat that liberally peppered the other man’s forehead, yet the captain‘s sleep was troubled. Leonard settled back into his seat and waited for Jim to settle down himself. The other man eventually did, returning to restful sleep once more, hand curled into a loose fist as he dreamed.

“Sleep well, darlin’. You need the rest more than I do," Leonard murmured, before attempting to get a quick nap himself

 

~ 2 ~

Leonard waited beside Scotty, watching as Jim stepped up onto the transporter platform, gold coloured Captain’s tunic seeming to catch and shimmer in the light. Spock also stepped up onto the platform, tall frame seeming to somehow dwarf Jim’s, despite the fact that the captain, himself, was by no means a small man. Scotty waited for the order to be given, as Jim looked towards Leonard with a reassuring smile.

Leonard had made his qualms clear about Jim taking on this mission, so soon after recovering from a bout of flu that had spread like the proverbial wildfire throughout the entirety of the ship. Jim still looked sickly-pale and vaguely clammy, yet the Starfleet conference took precedence over even personal illness for the captain. Leonard had to admit that he didn’t envy Jim; he knew as well as his captain did that Starfleet conferences were apt to be long and boring. The ongoing flu outbreak kept the chief medical officer from attending personally, as he was usually required to do.

“Don‘t do anythin‘ stupid, Jim. You‘re still too sick for foolhardiness,” Leonard said, hiding his obvious concern behind a scowl directed at the captain.

Jim wasn’t fooled for an instant, being all too familiar with the doctor’s inner workings, scantily hidden behind the facade of a grumpy country doctor.

“Me? Do something stupid? Never,” Jim said, tipping Leonard a cheeky wink. “Scotty, energize.”

“Aye, sir,” Scotty replied, turning kind brown eyes from the captain down to his transporter console.

He flicked the appropriate switches, waiting until the familiar yellow-blue swirls of transportation had disappeared from the confines of the platform.

“Take care of yourself, darlin’,” Leonard muttered, despite the fact that he knew it was too late for Jim to even hear him.

Scotty attempted, and failed, to school his features into a blank expression, not wanting Leonard to see the sudden stab of sympathy that appeared in his eyes. Scotty wasn’t certain how that sympathy would be received, given Leonard’s current mood. It was obvious to the kind hearted engineer that Leonard was truly worried for Jim. He was all too aware of Leonard’s relationship with the captain and that Leonard's concern was that of a lover, as well as a doctor.

“He’ll be back, sir, fit as a fiddle, ye’ll see,” Scotty eventually offered, aiming for light-heartedness yet still his sympathy shone through his words.

“I’ll kill him myself, if he doesn’t,” Leonard said, allowing Scotty’s small act of sympathy to go past without gruff reprimand.

Scotty merely offered a small smile in return.

~ 3 ~

Leonard was back in the Sickbay when Jim returned. The doctor looked up, curiously and scowled at the pale sheen of sweat that decorated Jim’s forehead. Despite the extremely tentative clean bill of health Leonard had given Jim before the captain had attended the Starfleet conference, it was obvious that Jim still wasn't feeling well. His normally bright and mischievous blue eyes were slightly glassy, a little unfocussed as he sat before Leonard to wait for the pre-agreed check-up upon Jim’s return.

“Ya did something stupid, didn’t ya?” Leonard said, as he pulled Jim’s left eye open a little roughly, before peering into it.

“Ow, Bones,” Jim said, protesting at the rough treatment. “No, I did not. I sat in the conference room and hardly moved, only spoke when necessary. Ask Spock. He’ll attest for me.”

“I’m sure he’d lie for you, if you asked him to, you mean,” Leonard growled, not fooled.

“He’s a Vulcan. He can’t lie. Not when he thinks it’s illogical to do so, anyway,” Jim replied, with a snort which turned into a long and protracted cough. “And this moment is illogical.”

“I swear you sound more and more like that damn hobgoblin with every day that goes by,” Leonard mumbled as he administered a decongestant via hypospray.

“You wound me, Bones,” Jim said, holding one hand over his heart.

“It’s only a damn hypo. Man up,” Leonard replied, despite the fact that he knew it was the jibe about Spock that Jim was referring to, not the decongestant.

Jim sighed and stared at Leonard, a pout evident in his gaze if not his mouth. Leonard sighed himself, before he leant in and pressed a conciliatory kiss to Jim’s waiting lips. Jim kissed him back, lips working against lips gently, before he pulled away to cough into his hand. Leonard waited, rubbing one hand soothingly over Jim’s back, waiting to see if he could help the captain further. When Jim nodded at Leonard indicating that he was going to be okay, Leonard dropped his hand, but didn’t stop watching over his lover. Jim smiled more to himself than to the doctor, as he slowly got to his feet, groaning at the aches that had settled in his joints.

“Get yourself some shore leave, Jim,” Leonard advised, voice gentle, gaze worried as he watched Jim’s stiff movements. “Might do you some good. Doctor‘s orders.”

“Will do,” Jim agreed, readily enough. “Tell you what else would do me some good. It all involves a certain chief medical officer reporting for private duties in the captain’s quarters.”

“Damnit, Jim, I‘m a doctor, not a gigolo,” Leonard grinned, as he patted the other man playfully on the butt. “And I’ll be along shortly.”

“Great. See you when you report in, Doctor. I expect a full examination on the hour,” Jim said, cheerily, before leaving the Sickbay more jauntily than he’d arrived.

“Full examination, my ass, darlin’,” Leonard snorted, shaking his head over the irrepressible captain.

Even when suffering the remaining dregs of the flu, Jim’s appetite for sex still knew no bounds. Leonard knew, however, that he was too soft-hearted to ever deny him a thing.

 

~ 4 ~ 

Jim partially sat up when Leonard walked into the room, booted feet making angry sounds upon the Sickbay’s floor. By the look on the doctor’s face, Jim ascertained that Leonard wasn’t very happy. Leonard’s eyes were glaring and hard, turned stormily dark with his anger and his brows pulled low over his eyes in angry slashes. Even his mouth was pressed down into an angry line and he just about thumped the bed with his PADD when he reached Jim’s side.

“Ow, careful,” Jim complained, miming great pain, even though the jolt hadn’t hurt him all that much. “Is that how you treat all your patients?”

“No, just the idiotic ones,” Leonard replied, anger heating his voice as much as it did his eyes. “What the devil did you think you were doing, kid? I said take shore leave, not start a riot. You could have been killed!”

“It was only a bar fight,” Jim protested, in disbelief. “Trust me, in comparison with the other fights I’ve been in, this one was nothing but a tickle.”

“A tickle,” Leonard repeated, in disbelief, as he stared at Jim’s bruises, and the cut that marred the other man’s forehead.

Even Jim’s knuckles and ribs hadn’t escaped any injury; cuts and bruises decorated every inch of Jim’s skin in livid colours and welts. Leonard didn't even know why Jim had been fighting, and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to. Knowing Jim, it would be something puerile.

“Like they say, you should have seen the other guy,” Jim smirked, quirking his eyebrows lasciviously at the doctor and wincing at the resultant pain that brought him.

Leonard harrumphed and didn’t comment further, merely ran more tests upon Jim to make sure that there wasn't any internal bleeding. Jim, for once, sat still, allowing Leonard full access to his body, watching as Leonard’s long fingers probed his skin. Despite the angry set of the doctor’s body, his hands were still calm and gentle, quick and soothing against his skin. Jim laid back and stared moodily up at the ceiling, before he spoke.

“I can’t believe you haven't even asked why I got into that fight, Bones,” he said, the pout that wasn't quite on his face definitely evident in his tone.

“With you, I’m not even sure I want to know,” Leonard growled as he jotted notes upon his PADD angrily.

The set of his jaw was hard, yet the look in his eyes when he raised them to Jim’s was at least partially softened now. When Jim stared at him, a pleading puppy-dog expression clear in his face, Leonard sighed and sat down heftily on the edge of the bed.

“Go on. Spill,” he said, wearily.

“It was over you,” Jim replied, sheepishly.

“Me? What the hell have I got to do with all of this?” Leonard asked, gesturing towards Jim’s bruises with one stabbing forefinger.

“Well, it all comes down to our relationship. Somehow it got out that you were my boyfriend, the other man who I fought called us both immoral, and that you, being a doctor, should know better. I told him that we were in love and that it shouldn’t matter, and ... well, let’s just say that I was defending your honour,” Jim said, unable to meet Leonard’s eyes then. “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t let that happen.”

“Jim,” Leonard said, finally, when the silence dragged on for too long between them.

When Jim didn’t look up at him, Leonard’s hand snaked out and curled around Jim’s chin, tilting the other man’s head up so that the captain was forced to meet his gaze. Jim stared back, hope a glimmer in his eyes when he saw Leonard’s gentle, almost pained look.

“You shouldn’t have done that. Not for me,” Leonard said, quietly.

“I had to, Bones. I love ya, ya grumpy bastard, and I don’t understand why other people can’t just accept that,” Jim said, gritting his teeth and wincing at the pain that caused him.

“I know, Jim, but you can’t let yourself get into fights over it. You‘ve gotta take care of yourself, right? For the Enterprise and more importantly, for me,” Leonard said, as he administered painkillers for Jim‘s aches. “You’re a stupid ass; I hope you realize that.”

“I know. That’s why you love me, right?” Jim asked, with a small smile, as Leonard dropped a kiss to his temple.

“Not the only reason, m’dear,” Leonard replied, voice tightening slightly with the effort of standing again before he turned away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to see to. You're not dying, Jim, so don’t try and pretend you are.”

Jim pouted at Leonard’s back, surprised that the doctor had known what he was about to do, even without looking. He laid back upon the bio-bed, waiting for the painkillers to take effect, before smiling to himself. Even though Leonard hadn’t said outright, it was clear that the doctor did love him deeply. It was there beneath his words, and the way that he acted around him. It was also plain to see in the way he became angry when Jim had endangered himself, getting into bar fights so soon after recovering from a nasty bout of flu.

Jim was so deep in thought, he didn’t see that Leonard had cast one lingering glance over one shoulder before finally leaving the Sickbay. The door whooshed open, then closed behind Leonard and the doctor sighed, shaking his head wearily as he leant against the corridor wall.

“You’re a stupid ass, darlin’, but I do love ya, all the same,” he murmured, staring at Jim’s charts with a clinical eye.

He sighed again, before moving on, finally and on into the bowels of the ship.

~ 5 ~

Jim awoke when the side of the bed dipped slightly beside him. Without opening his eyes, he knew that it was Leonard; he recognised him by the way that the doctor’s hands ran over his back, stroking sleep-sweaty skin with a cool, sure touch. Jim smiled even before he opened his eyes and turned over, staring openly at the sight of Leonard McCoy in the morning.

Leonard hadn’t changed out of his sleep-wear yet, hair slightly mussed from where he’d been sleeping beside Jim the night before. Leonard’s eyes were still smoky with sleep and sex, yet his mouth still curved into a welcoming smile when he saw that Jim was staring at him.

“Mornin’ darlin’,” Leonard said, as he leant in for a morning kiss.

Jim murmured appreciatively against Leonard’s mouth, drinking in the taste of his lover as he pulled the doctor closer to him. Leonard went willingly, more malleable and relaxed now that he wasn’t on duty.

“Love it when you call me darlin’,” Jim murmured against Leonard’s mouth when the kiss ended. “I wish you’d call me that more often.”

“Ahh, I call you darlin’ all the time. Not my fault you hardly ever hear me,” Leonard murmured, as he nuzzled Jim's neck affectionately.

Jim sighed, back arching from the bed as he strived to find a better position. Leonard allowed the movement, before settling in beside him, body angling against Jim’s in a comfortable, relaxed manner. The doctor continued kissing Jim’s jaw, lips lingering against slightly stubbled cheek, nose nestling against the captain’s ear. Jim turned into the kisses, lazily, angling Leonard’s free hand down between his legs. Leonard chuckled against Jim’s cheek, before drawing away to stare down at the captain.

“Do you have a phaser in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?” the doctor growled, eyebrows angling lasciviously over sudden lust-blown eyes.

Jim groaned over such an obviously cheesy pick-up line that even he wouldn‘t dare use, head hitting the pillow beneath him firmly.

“Bones, I’m naked. I don’t have any pockets,” Jim said, before laughing openly at the doctor.

“Well, then, you must be pleased to see me,” Leonard grinned back. “And I think another full body examination is in order for you, darlin’.”

Jim murmured out a pleased note at that, before Leonard started in on the kind of examination best reserved for private moments between lovers.

~~ the end ~~


End file.
